M1: display stays dark

[Gauchi]

I have installed the default debian image on an SD card, the M1 boots normally and I can log in via ssh.

However, the display that I attached to the HDMI port stays dark. It does detect that it is plugged in, but there is no signal, not even a console.

An X server is started on vnc, which is not quite what I want.

What is the way to go to get something displayed on the device's own display?

[Gauchi]

Ok, now I have tried the same with a colleages M1 with the same result: no image.

Could anyone tell me whether connecting a Full HD (1080p) display via HDMI should display a console? If not - how do I get an X server to run on the standard Debian image?

On the other hand - if a console should be displayed out of the box - did we really receive two defective boards?

[davef]

No problem on my Debian NanoPC-T3 with external display.

Might be helpful to connect up the UART port using a PSU-ONECOM and run minicom on a host computer and watch the bootup messages.

You can stop the boot process and look at bootargs, maybe there is a clue in there.

[Gauchi]

Thanks for your reply.

I hooked up a serial adapter to the debug port and looked at the output (The entire transcript is in the attachment).

So far, I have not found what causes the trouble, but others seem to have power supply issues that lead to similar symptoms. I will investigate this further.

[davef]

I have no Allwinner experience, but

[ 19.965201] [DISP] disp_ioctl,line:1584:para err in disp_ioctl, cmd = 0x0,screen id = 65536

the ID looks suspect? Are you using a recommended display?

Power supply probably OK, normally poor supply results in repeated re-boots.

[Gauchi]

The screen ID is a little strange indeed. I did not know about any "recommended" displays. Mine is a Samsung 21 '' full hd monitor attached via an hdmi-to-dvi cable.

In the meanwhile, I found that I can get the display to work using armbian. I will try using the script.bin file generated there.